Saturday, May 05, 2007

Timid? Moi? Not commenting? Moi? Yes, it's true...

So I've had a really bizarre week. I'm trying to be less "kiss and tell" on ze blog (or rather, no kisses and tell") but Internets, this was the week of all kinds of mood swings and introvert sirens blaring and surprise emails and...I'm exhausted.

So I've noticed something. I have been visiting your blogs but I'll start a comment and then think it's stupid and erase it.

AND I STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO THE POST OFFICE! Yesterday, when I went to the Oakland Main Carnegie, the Post Office has been closed there. And then I didn't have time to go...so MONDAY. Which will be a lovely day of appointments:

8:45 Chiro11:00 Therapist3:00 Psychiatrist7:00 Prayer Mtg.

I might go see Spiderman 3 tomorrow. No clue if it will be sold out.

I've got to find more interesting things to blog about. I'm just exhausted and feeling trapped and ugh. I was in a groove around 11, but that groove has come and GONE. Janice and I are staying a little late (I'm not clear if it's 5:30 or 6, but I need the hours, so we'll flex.)

A librarian story? Well, I check Dewey numbers. We mostly get them from the CIP data (fancy abbreviation for the info on the t.p. verso or the copyright page.) I double check to make sure they're accurate, fit our collection, etc.

So the latest Bill Geist book (something about small town America) comes across my desk, and the number is like 8 digits beyond the decimal point (too many, dear Internets!).

This was the number: 973.924020'7. Now, 973 is for USA (9 is geography, 7 is the Americas, 3 is the US of A.) Generally, if you don't have zeros after the 973, you're talking about a president. Sure enough, the Bill Geist book about Small Towns (Way off the Road) is classed under Richard Milhaus Nixon. (Well, at least the .924 part is.) (Who knows what the other numbers were supposed to be for...)

I did some research, sent an email to the librarians upstairs, suggesting two possible numbers for the book. One of them called me and said, use the 973 one, but why aren't you using the one in the CIP? It took nearly every inch to say in a calm tone of voice, "Because the book would be classed under NIXON!!"

And wouldn't you know, Bill Geist and Bill Bryson, who both wrote books on Small Towns, will be separated. Because Bill Bryson's book (The Lost Continent: travels in small-town America) is classed under 917.3. (9 for geography, 1 for travel, 7 for America, 3 for USA.)

YOUR LIBRARY TIP OF THE DAY: if you want to have a 973 book not be about a president, you have to make sure you add the right amount of zeroes. So Bill Geist will be found in 973.009, which is the geography of the USA.

Aren't you glad you stopped by?

Oh, and in grocery store news, I scored a copy of a VHS of Season 4, Vol. 3 of Sex and the City. Who knows what kind of condition it's in, but for $1.99, I'll take a chance.

I know you're going to hate this comment, but I HATE (LOATHE, DETEST, CANNOT STAND) the D.D. system. Hate it. I wish libraries would stack books like bookstores do (I know, that's probably sacrilege or something) but as the consumer, I'd sure find more books that way.

Who's that girl?

I'm a work in progress librarian. I love books, Jesus, and apple strudel. I've traveled the world only to discover that I adore Pittsburgh, PA. I attempt most days to work out my life with fear and trembling. I write about books, shoes, Carrie Bradshaw, and an occasional post about the Psalms. I also have a dark side, so watch out!
Sarah Louise is a pseudonym, so the names may have been changed to protect the innocent...